Lean Day Toolkit › Free lean posters › 5 Whys
5 Whys poster
Stop fixing the symptom.
Ask why. Then ask why again. Around the fifth honest answer you stop finding excuses and start finding the cause - and a fix at the cause is the only fix that stays fixed.
Download the 5 Whys poster · PDF · 171 KB
Free to download, print and use in your own workplace. Please don't resell them or strip the credit. © 2026 Plapl Games.
The four steps on the poster
- The problemState what actually happened
- Why, five timesEach answer gets its own why
- The rootThe last honest answer
- Fix the causeOne corrective action, tracked
Also on the poster
- Start with facts"The wrapper stopped twice on Tuesday" - not "the wrapper is rubbish".
- No blameAsk why the process allowed it, never who to blame for it. People clam up; processes talk.
- Stop at the causeWhen the answer is something you can change on the floor, you have arrived.
- Act on itThe chain ends as a corrective action - or it was just a conversation.
The line to remember
Fix the cause once, or fix the symptom forever.
In the app
The poster comes from Lean Day Toolkit, where it opens from Tools → 5 Whys, next to the tool it describes. Get the app: App Store · Google Play · Amazon Appstore for Fire tablets.